Outreach at Juvenile Hall

During the 2014-15 season, ESF performed regularly for the youth at the Santa Cruz County Juvenile Hall.

Fall of 2015 Rebecca and Moni joined violist Tiffany Richardson and cellist Frederic Rosselet in part of Sound Impact‘s Project Imagine, a residency at the Santa Cruz Juvenile Hall. “There’s something in music,” said Jackson, “that, hearing it up close and personal as opposed to something on a recording, that I have to believe is engaging them in a deeper way. As for us, you go in. You’re locked in, and you realize that you don’t know what they’ve done (to get in here). They’re just kids and they’re locked in here. That’s heartbreaking. And then you play this music that you love, it does stir up a lot of emotions…” To read more about this special experience, check out the full article in the Santa Cruz Sentinal, The Sound Inside.

In the past season, musicians of ESF performed at the Juvenile Hall:

• 2014 – December
  
• 2015 – April, May, September, October and November

Behind the Scenes

Two of ESF's favorite volunteers, Marco Rozzano and Jess Lin./Photo: Scot Goodman

Ensemble San Francisco relies on many volunteers to help keep everything running smoothly. We are very appreciative of the support we receive and highly value the friendships formed with each volunteer. We can always use more assistance so if you are interested in joining our team, please email info@ensemblesf.com.

• Front of house activities at concerts like ushering, greeting guests, and taking tickets
• Back stage activities like page turning for Christine or helping with stage set up
• Posting flyers to help advertise 
• Any other creative way you think you might help ESF!

Armando's Rhumba Transformed!

Through the generosity of David Kaun, ESF commissioned Emmy Award-Winning composer John Wineglass to arrange the famous tune off of Chick Corea's critically acclaimed album "My Spanish Heart." Octa Rhumba was premiered March 2014 at Le Petit Trianon in San Jose. 

Rehearsing Octa Rhumba/Photo: Scot Goodman

Wineglass writes:
Octa-Rhumba is a composition/arrangement based on the theme of Chick Corea's Armando's Rhumba [1976]. It is in a simple A-B-A form stating the melody and going through several improvisations of the chord structure (like a standard jazz tune). The B section is a develop- mental section taking on new original melodic ideas inspired by 'if Corea was to approach this as Beethoven did' along with my own musical quotes of Lloyd-Weber thrown in for an eclectic mix of rumba, mystery, masquerade, macabre - a cadre of inspirations. 

One of the challenges at the request of the group was writing a work where some parts could be interchanged if a player was missing (ESF is a dynamic group of performers not always together at the same time). So doubling was something done on purpose, strategically. In constructing the work and thinking about sonority and composite color, I had to keep in mind that perhaps a flute might double or replace a vio- lin, and likewise with a shifting ensemble with (or without) clarinet, oboe, horn, etc.. This gives the audience a different experience every time (due to the shifting ensemble) while still keeping the consistency of the work. At the premiere performance, I added a cajon (a la myself as the performer) to keep everything together rhythmically. 

John Christopher Wineglass (®Emmy Award-Winning Composer) has performed on five continents, before every U.S. president since Ronald Reagan and with several ®Oscar and ®Grammy- Award Winning artists, including Aretha Franklin, Whitney Houston and Jamie Foxx to name a few. As a recipient of three (two consecutive) ®Daytime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Achievement in Music Direction and Composition for a Drama Series, and threeASCAP Film and Television Music Awards, Mr. Wineglass holds seven ®EMMY nominations.